Red or Green?

Often, when time needs to be filled or attention kept, I will ask the kids questions about their state. As most of you know, I have a ravenous appetite for trivia and learning simple facts about where I am is something I enjoy. I usually start with the state bird, tree, and flower then move on to lesser known ones like song, gem, and what year their state was founded. It’s interesting to discover which state symbols are well known and which are not. Most of the kids in Twin Falls, ID know what their state gem is and Oklahomans sure as heck know their state song (think Rodgers and Hammerstein). Usually the reliable answers come from kids in at least the fourth grade. Last week one of the seahorses (5-7 years old) took a stab in the dark about what the state flower was with “Redwood?”

For your information, New Mexico’s state tree is the piñon pine, the bird is the roadrunner, the flower is the yucca, and the state question is “Red or green?” In most places this question is usually reserved for choosing Christmas present bows, but in New Mexico “red or green” is an almost daily inquiry, possibly three times daily. The question is in reference to what kind of chile you’d like with your meal. Now, chile is not Texas beef-and-bean chili, nor is it salsa. It’s thick, hot, smooth, spicy, fresh, flavorful, delicate, and is as ubiquitous in New Mexico as Starbucks is in Seattle. Made with either green chile peppers or ripened red ones (same plant), it’s been coursing through my veins on and off since we got here.

The past few days we’ve been in Santa Fe, the oldest capital city in the United States. At the center is a historic plaza surrounded by narrow streets, never too straight, winding their way through adobe buildings, some nearly 400 years old. The oldest standing church in the country is here, a small mission built by the Tlaxcala Indians for the Spanish in 1610. A city with three blended cultures--anglo, hispanic, and native--and roughly 200 art galleries in the city add to the diverse and creative atmosphere of Santa Fe. The city is also renowned for its culinary culture. While too cheap to experience much of that, I have certainly made sure I experience the everyday cuisine of Nuevo Mexico. Both Wednesday and Thursday I chose to answer the official state question at the Plaza Cafe for lunch, opting for delicious blue corn enchiladas one day and posole the next day, both, of course, with plenty of chile. Warm, fluffy sopapillas on the side, each one like manna from heaven, lifted each meal from simple sustenance to a bona fide reason to move here. And let’s not forget the chile rellenos.

Looking for evening entertainment on Wednesday, we opted for a poetry reading at the local arts center. The poet was Eamon Grennan, a renowned Irish wordsmith unbeknownst to us both. What a treat. Humble, funny, gracious, and intelligent, Grennan certainly wowed me with his work; an inspiring and edifying night. The following night, after a day at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, we headed to a local brewpub for our romantic Valentine’s Day meal. Doesn’t get much better than fish and chips, local beer, and a folksy bluegrass/country band in the back. Take heed: stay in the Land of Enchantment too long and you may never leave.